NEW DELHI: Raising the issue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s remarks at his farewell function almost a year ago, former Vice President Hamid Ansari says many considered the comments to be a departure from accepted practices on such occasions.

August 10, 2017 was the last day of Ansari’s second term as Vice President (2007-2017) and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. According to tradition, leaders of political parties and members devoted the forenoon session to thanking the Chair.

“The Prime Minister participated in this and while being fulsome in his complements also hinted at what he perceived to be a certain inclination in my approach on account of my having spent, as he put it, both a good part of my professional tenure as a diplomat in Muslim lands and in post-retirement period on minority-related questions,” Ansari said.

“The context, presumably, was my reference in the Bengaluru speech to what I perceived as ‘enhanced apprehension of insecurity’ and in the TV interview to ‘a…